Category: Devotions

If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:8-10

THE ETERNAL NATURE OF GOD—past, present, and future—is clearly revealed in Psalm 139. In beautiful and powerful poetic language, David explains that God is omnipresent. God is never bound by the limitations of time and space like those experienced by mere mortals.Continue reading “God Is Everywhere”→

Some find it hard to say “thank you.” A farmer was sitting on the porch with his wife. He was beginning to realize how much she meant to him. It was about time—for they’d lived together forty-two years, and she had been such a help. She had shared the joys and the hardships of their marriage. She had worked hard and loved him unconditionally. One day as they sat together, he said, “Wife, you’ve been such a wonderful woman that there are times I can hardly keep from telling you.”

One of our problems is that we are blessed in so many ways that we can begin to take them for granted. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that if the stars came out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to look at them. He observed that we have seen the stars so often that we don’t bother to look at them anymore. It’s easy for us to be like that. We can become so accustomed to our blessings that we can lose our sense of gratitude.

Steve lived in a large house in a pleasant suburb. It was a great place to raise his family of five, but his children have long since married and moved on. 15 years ago, Steve’s business failed, and although it would have made financial and practical sense for Steve and his wife to downsize, they loved their home and always put off the tough decision. Continue reading “How Are You In The Decision Making Process?”→

A great Proverbs bible study is found in chapter 6 verses 6-11. It reads as follows:

You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent house guest!

Everybody should study ants and their philosophy—it’s simple, but it’s powerful! When was the last time you saw ants reach an obstacle and give up with their heads down and head back to the ant hole to relax? Never. Continue reading “Need Inspiration? Look To The Ant”→

If you are not comfortable with yourself, you cannot be comfortable with others! If you do not believe in yourself, you will sabotage relationships.

John Maxwell teaches in “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” a concept called the Law of the Lid. It simply states, “Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness.” Here is what that means: no matter how hard you work, or how big you dream, you can only go so far professionally if you are a poor leader, or if you have a poor self-image. Continue reading “4 Ways To Grow Your Business and Your Self Image”→

Will the United States be an Entitlement Society or an Opportunity Society? It’s not a new question. It’s roughly the same question Americans have been asked for decades.

Let’s begin with definitions:

OPPORTUNITY: a favorable juncture of circumstances; a good chance for advancement or progress.

ENTITLEMENT: the condition of having a right to have, do, or get something; the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges); a type of financial help provided by the government for members of a particular group.

What made America great? There are many factors to our greatness, but no one can deny the driving force of our greatness is the slogan: “America, the Land of Opportunity!” I mean, think about it, why do millions of people from other countries around the world risk everything, even their lives to get to America? Opportunity!

Since the Depression, Americans have generally had to choose between a political leader whose goal was to expand government (Entitlement), or one who wants to strengthen the private sector (Opportunity).

In an Entitlement Society, the government plays the role of a policeman who uses his power to ensure economic equality.Think of the policies during the 1930’s that prolonged rather than ended the Depression. Think of the War on Poverty, which never halted the poverty cycle. Think of the current president’s campaign theme about fairness, which he’s called “the defining issue of our time.”

An Entitlement Society requires wealth distribution — which requires government force. While hailed on the left as a panacea, a remedy for all difficulties, redistribution is a drain on an economy because it weakens a society’s motivation to work, invest and innovate. It moves capital from the private sector, where it would otherwise stimulate economic expansion, to the public sector, where money is spent so inefficiently that government spending is actually a drag on growth.

If a recent Gallup poll is to be believed, Americans aren’t that interested in reducing “the income and wealth gap between rich and poor.” Only 46% say that it’s “extremely” or “very” important that government should follow an equality agenda. At the same time, 82% say economic growth is either “extremely” or “very” important. More than half (52%) say that a wealth gap is an “acceptable part” of the economic system. Only 45% say it isn’t.

Only in open economies do shop owners, managers, workers and entrepreneurs have the incentive to create more wealth. On the other side is the Entitlement Society, in which the state guarantees that some or all of that wealth is divided among others who are considered more “entitled” to the wealth than the creators. In an Opportunity Society, however, creators keep what they produce, which is an incentive to produce more.

Today, America’s economic system is mixed. It’s neither a full Entitlement Society nor a complete Opportunity Society. But we’ve moved hard toward a predominantly Entitlement Society — and ignored constitutional limits in doing so — where the special interests that have captured the government are the beneficiaries at the expense of the productive.

This is unsustainable. Greece, where the entitlement mentality has caused a fiscal collapse of the government and an economic breakdown, proves that handouts and state expansion can’t go on forever. Sweden, thought of by many on the left as having the right mix of welfare-state socialism and capitalism, saw this problem coming to its country years ago and quietly reversed its path.

Throughout this day, Americans everywhere will celebrate freedom, as well we should. It’s one of the defining principles of our nation! Yet one might ask, Of those celebrating freedom, how many are truly experiencing it?

Certainly, many men and women are living what has been called the “American dream.” They enjoy well-paying careers, wonderful homes, and interesting hobbies. But meanwhile, their “pursuit of happiness” has yet to be satisfied. The reason is that lots of people remain prisoners, internally and externally, despite their apparent success. They are bound to jobs, anxiety, and depression, or a fear of losing what they’ve worked hard to possess. However liberating circumstances may seem externally, we eventually learn that freedom must be realized within. But how?

The answer is Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:1 prophesied a key aspect of Jesus’ ministry, which continues to this day: He has come to heal the brokenhearted and set captives free. When we trust Him as Savior, the chains holding us back from joy are broken. We are liberated from lies that have been programmed in our minds from an early age, and we begin to see things from God’s point of view. Then we discover that our needs, desires, and overall well-being rest securely in the arms of our heavenly Father.

Are you feeling the weight of anxiety or anger? Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). And remember the promise of 2 Corinthians 6:2 “Now is the day of salvation” (NIV). The day you trust in Christ is the day He delivers you from fear and bondage. The day you trust Christ is the day you begin experiencing freedom! Need help praying? Click here to contact me!

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The first 10 chapters of the Book of Proverbs give us some insight to what fathers need to teach their children; all of which are part of spiritual wisdom.

1. Teach your children to fear God.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Fear is not cringing in horror, it’s a respect for God’s authority and Holiness.

2. Teach your children to guard their thinking; to fill their minds with pure thoughts.

Proverbs 3:3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Take love, loyalty, faithfulness, reliability, truth, and bind them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart. Heart used here is a reference to the mind, and tablet is a reference to the stones the commandments were written on. So, chisel them in the stone of your mind.

3. Teach your children to obey their parents.

All through this entire section there are several statements about “hearing, and listening to his father’s instruction.” We also have the commandment to Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2,“Honor thy father and mother.”

A child needs to learn how to submit to our authority, so that we may teach them the wisdom of God, in turn submitting to His authority.

4. Teach your children to select his friends carefully.

Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived, bad company corrupts good morals.

We all know about peer pressure. It can make an otherwise good kid make a mistake they he may pay for with their life. If you want to be everybody’s buddy, you’re headed for trouble. It’s better to have one good friend that knows you very well, like a brother.

5. Teach your children to control his bodily desires.

Young teens start to develop passions that can lead them down the wrong path.

Proverbs 2:16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.

Proverbs 5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil.

I know this is speaking from the point of view of the woman seducing the man, but if he is fearing God, guarding his mind, and staying away from peer pressure, he won’t get caught in certain situations. Fathers teach teach your children to stay away from sexual immorality and premarital sex. Marriage is a gift from God, to do these things before you’re married disrespects God and your future spouse.

6. Teach your children to love their spouse and enjoy being married.

Proverbs 5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

This follows up on the last one. If you don’t have respect for your spouse before you’re married, you won’t afterwards. A good way to teach this is by the way you treat your wife and by the things you say. A wife is given to him by God to be his best friend and companion.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.